Bull in China Shops, Now Wrestles With More Grift

Plus Colbert, Judy Collins and Rosanne Cash, and our usual cartoons.

May 15, 2026

Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy.

Three shows next week and that is is…

And the China bros-for-billions trip ends, not with a bang but with a…

Meanwhile, back in the ring, Heather Cox Richardson:

On May 11, Jonathan Allen, Peter Nicholas, Matt Dixon, Henry J. Gomez, and Allan Smith of NBC News reported that Trump is using the planned Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event to be held on his birthday on the White House lawn as a new way for donors to funnel money to him. Although the UFC is paying for the event—and expects to lose as much as $30 million on it—and although tickets are technically free, Trump is picking who gets most of the tickets.
Sponsorship packages that include ringside seats have been selling for $1 million or more. Neither the White House nor the UFC would comment on where the money is going. A Republican lobbyist told the NBC News journalists: “It’s basically been added to the list of approved entities to give undisclosed money to and get credit with Trump. They are raising a sh*t ton of money and have used it as another unofficial vehicle for corporate donors to give and gain favor with Trump.”

If you’ve ever wondered (and you have) about Trump’s overnight vomit posts, The New Republic:

Through twilight-hour shifts, President Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp supplies the president with stacks of printed-out drafts and awaits his approval before hitting post. Her work has included posts of the Obamas as apes and an AI-generated image of Trump as Jesus Christ.

Cuba's energy minister said Wednesday night that the country had run out of fuel oil and diesel, and that blackouts could exceed 20–22 hours per day.